Essent wants free energy

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Are thieves now becoming cyber savvy ? It seems more like there are various groups developing certain elements, as we also see with Malware. Groups develop ransomware that is sold to other parties, who use it again. But there is light at the end of the tunnel (and it is not a train). Certification of IoT devices also seems to be a route that makes sense in terms of security, such as the Cybershield 2017 ACT (pdf). Currently still voluntary, perhaps in the future mandatory. Think of a CE mark or other testing processes.

Business model innovation
A nice topic that is also touched upon is Hardware as a service (HaaS) . Connected customers have a relationship with the supplier. This forces you to look at that relationship differently. A nice overview of business models can be seen in this image below.


An extreme example of business model innovation from the energy sector: Essent thinks or wants to make energy free in 2030. But how do you earn that money? With services that offer added value.

It is important to have a 360-degree view of the customer. Think of energy consumption data and IoT devices in a platform. This data makes it possible to make specific offers. Essent remains the first point of contact and works with multiple smart thermostat suppliers, for example. If there is a problem and it is with a partner such as Nest, it is brought there.

Ease of use
The focus is on the large mass in the market, italy whatsapp number who have different wishes and desires than the early adopters. There is no tolerance for difficult interfaces or a suboptimal experience. Speech will also become an important interface for Essent, simply because speech is such a natural service. Another thing consumers are concerned about is: which data do I want to share and what not? Essent wants to make that as easy as possible via an opt-out for sharing certain data. What you do or do not get is not clear.

Also read: 14 points to consider when choosing the most suitable IoT platform
The way Philips Lighting looks at light as a service, we will see more in the future. Hardware is still needed, but the business model changes to a service. Including the way hardware has to be developed in connection with maintenance. When light was offered as a service, Philips was able to reduce energy consumption. The motivation for this was that this directly increases profitability for them.



Customer experience from Centrica Hive
What can we learn from other companies? Centrica (an energy supplier in Great Britain) is going for the Internet of Things for the user experience. The story is built around a case of the Jones family. The house – and specifically the thermostat – was still difficult to operate when compared to online banking. Via the thermostat Hive, a smart home can be created in connection with other things. But how do you go from early adopter to the masses?

There are a number of questions and issues specific to mass market adoption.